Fran Barnes, chief executive of the Horticultural Trades Association, has backed Andy Burnham's focus on jobs, opportunity and living standards but warned that employment policy must not stand in the way of the flexible, entry-level roles that give thousands of young people their first experience of work.
More than one million young people in Britain are now not in education, employment or training, with youth unemployment rising to 16 per cent – its highest level since 2015. At a time when the country needs more employers willing to give someone their first job, businesses across the economy have become increasingly cautious about hiring.
Horticulture's £38 billion contribution
Environmental horticulture, Barnes says, is one of the sectors best placed to help tackle the challenge. While it rarely makes the headlines, it contributes £38 billion to the UK economy and supports more than 722,000 jobs. It has always provided flexible, accessible opportunities – a Saturday job at a garden centre, seasonal work in a nursery or an apprenticeship with a landscaping business – often requiring little more than enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.
Those first opportunities, she adds, have launched countless successful careers. The industry allows someone arriving with no experience to go on to manage a team, oversee a growing operation or build their own business. But saying yes to new recruits is becoming increasingly difficult.
Rising employment costs
Businesses have spent the past 14 months absorbing a wave of additional employment costs. Retailers alone have faced an extra £6.5 billion in labour costs after increases to employer National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage, contributing to the loss of almost 400,000 retail jobs over the past decade. Environmental horticulture has experienced many of the same pressures.
The Horticultural Trades Association has consistently warned about the cumulative impact of higher employment costs and mounting regulatory burdens. Members say they are delaying investment, scaling back recruitment and raising prices simply to remain viable.
Employment Rights Act at a crossroads
Employment costs alone have already taken hundreds of thousands of pounds – and in some cases millions – directly out of individual businesses, with little left to absorb further increases. Against that backdrop, the implementation of the Employment Rights Act matters enormously.
Barnes stresses that the sector supports the ambition behind the reforms. Everyone deserves fair treatment at work, and stronger protections for genuinely vulnerable workers are important. But good intentions do not automatically produce good outcomes, she warns.
Flexibility is fundamental
The way the reforms are implemented will determine whether they strengthen the labour market or unintentionally reduce opportunities for the very people they are designed to help, particularly in seasonal industries.
Garden centres, plant nurseries and landscaping businesses do not employ the same number of people every week of the year. Demand changes with the seasons, the weather and consumer behaviour. Flexibility is not a loophole, Barnes says; it is fundamental to how these businesses operate and enables them to offer part-time, seasonal and entry-level roles that fit around education, caring responsibilities and the unpredictable realities of people's lives.
Measures such as guaranteed hours requirements and day-one unfair dismissal rights risk upsetting that balance. For many family-run businesses operating on tight margins, they make the decision to recruit someone new significantly harder. When employers become more reluctant to hire, those looking for their first opportunity lose out first.
A balance to strike
This is not an argument against stronger employment protections, Barnes insists. Environmental horticulture supports fair treatment, secure work and better rights for employees. But strengthening workers' rights and preserving the flexibility that creates first jobs are not competing objectives. With the right implementation, government can deliver both.
If Andy Burnham wants to reduce youth unemployment and expand opportunity, the country needs more businesses creating first jobs, not fewer. Environmental horticulture stands ready to play its part, but it can only continue creating opportunities if businesses have the confidence to invest and recruit.
The next phase of the Employment Rights Act must therefore be implemented with SMEs and seasonal employers firmly in mind, Barnes argues. Government should work closely with business, understand how seasonal industries operate in practice, and ensure the reforms strengthen security without undermining the flexibility that makes so many first jobs possible.
Get that balance right, she concludes, and businesses across labour-intensive sectors – from environmental horticulture to retail – will do what they have always done: invest, create jobs and give thousands of people the first opportunity that can shape their working lives.
